


took advantage of every accident

by purrfectj



Series: resign yourself to the influence of the earth [2]
Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game), Walden - Henry David Thoreau
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-31
Updated: 2016-03-31
Packaged: 2018-05-30 09:12:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6417643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purrfectj/pseuds/purrfectj
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tess visits Pelican Town, meets Pierre, and remembers to breathe.</p><p>This is part 2 of a many-part series exploring Stardew Valley, its inhabitants, and its newest addition, a female farmer named Tess. It's written in present tense and is rooted in my love for the farm where I grew up and my lifelong love affair with Henry David Thoreau's Walden: Or, Life in the Woods.</p>
            </blockquote>





	took advantage of every accident

It’s a three mile ride into town and she takes her time with it, grateful for the sun and the birds and the lightweight hooded sweatshirt she has on over a t-shirt and jeans that are white at the stress points, her running shoes the only thing about the outfit that isn’t old, making a list in her head as she bumps over the rough dirt track, her long, thick braid slapping against her backpack with every rut and dip and jolt. She’ll need work boots and sturdy gloves and maybe a pair of goggles to protect her eyes, a clothesline to string between the sturdy oak posts in the scrap of backyard, and eventually someone who can sharpen the serviceable tools she found in the shed. She knows, nominally, how to use the whetstone, but wouldn’t it be nice to have a conversation with someone about something so basic and honest? 

She’s not sure she remembers how that would look or feel, honesty, but she thinks she might like it. 

The town is adorable, cobblestone streets and arched stone bridges, tidy sidewalks swept clean, baskets of cheerful spring flowers in front of uncluttered homes with sparkling windows, a riverfront where even the bank has few weeds marring the charming view. The large Joja Mart, boxy and modern, would be cheaper and easier on her budget, but there’s something amusingly childish about choosing, instead, to give her business to the small general store called _Pierre’s_. Next to the old-fashioned glass doors that say ‘pull’ is a bulletin board and she pauses there after securing her bike on the provided rack near the street, her sunglasses perched atop her head as she squints at the advertisements for fishing tackle and mining jobs and the promise of eternal gratitude if a pretty girl will just bring someone named Sam a pretty rock. 

She is still shaking her head over it all when she enters the store to the cheerful jangle of the little bell. The man at the counter waves cheerfully with a speculative curl to his lip and she waves back, a little wiggle of her fingers, and decides now is as good a time as any to make good on her promise to the Mayor. She strides up, swallows down nerves, holds out her hand across the counter, tries a smile, and says, “I’m Tess, the new owner of Meadowbrooke Farm.” 

The handshake is firm though the man’s hand is soft, his eyes a deep, dark brown under his slightly shaggy red-brown hair, and the half-spectacles he wears are, she suspects, reading glasses he just doesn’t bother to remove. His smile spreads, easy and wide, and he nods as he takes back his hand. “Welcome to Stardew Valley and to Pelican Town. I’m Pierre.” 

Pierre, it happens, knows a lot about the Valley, about the Town, and about the proper growth ratios for parsnips. Tess pulls a notebook and a pen out of her backpack and transcribes his nuggets of wisdom in her messy, nearly illegible scrawl, nodding along as he extolls the virtues of strawberries over cauliflower, something about costs and benefits and soil composition. She continues writing, her fingers starting to cramp, as he mentions a few people about town that could be helpful: Clint the blacksmith, Gunther at the library/museum, Gus at the saloon, Willy down by the docks, and even an older couple, Evelyn and George, who were friends of her grandfather. Then there are all the people _outside_ of town: Robin the carpenter whom she’s already met and apparently lives a little north of the farm, up the mountain, Marnie who is described as the ‘animal lady’ and lives south of the farm near the river, and even some Adventurers’ Guild that even mentioning makes Pierre laugh a little incredulously, showcasing a gap in his two front teeth. “That old mine is dangerous but they swear it’s the best place to find raw minerals.” 

Tess refuses Pierre’s kind, knowing offer of credit when she presents him with her overly long list of things she needs, charity something that only makes her chest feel tight, like she can’t get enough air. Besides, she’s not completely destitute though she may be eating a lot of peanut butter sandwiches and bowls of plain noodles for a while. She does agree to let him send his daughter, Abigail, out to the farm with her larger purchases, her thanks sincere and sweet enough that he is left smiling for minutes after the bell at the door tinkles her absence. 

“Pretty girl?” his wife Caroline asks when she comes out of the door that leads deeper into the house, rising onto tiptoe for the kiss he’s happy to bestow, and he brushes her blue-black hair back from her beautiful face and nods. “She’s got her work cut out for her,” Caroline remarks and he hums in agreement, watching through the big window as said girl walks past her bike in favor of strolling down the sidewalk toward the river, her hands in her pockets, her backpack slung over only one shoulder. 

“She looks lonely.” Both parents turn to regard their daughter in surprise where she’s popped up from listening and watching and stocking shelves, pulling a laugh from her father and an eye roll from her mother when she makes a silly face. 

“Well, she won’t stay lonely long in this town. Too many people want to know her business,” Caroline says briskly. Abigail makes another face, this one not quite so silly, and Pierre sighs and resists the urge to lean his elbows on the counter. 

At the river’s edge, Tess looks down into the water, so clear and clean and pure that she can see the pebbles and silt and fish, and breathes. 

In, out. 

In, out. 

Her lungs fill, her lungs empty, and Tess kicks a pebble, watching the ripples as they expand in ever widening circles. 


End file.
